Freezing
by Frumpy
Summary: A body of a dead male is found, and the case somehow touches Grissom more so than usual. Oh, and a little GS angst. Chapter 9 up. -Complete-
1. Default Chapter

**Title:** Freezing  
  
**Author:** Frumpy

**Rating:** PG-13. Just to be on the safe side.  
  
**Disclaimer:** No money is being made from this. Unfortunately, CSI still doesn't belong to me.

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Chapter 1:  
  
Pulling up alongside the police cruiser, Grissom put his Tahoe in park and turned off the engine. The red and blue from various police cars bathed the interior of his car as he picked up his field kit from the backseat. Seeing Brass approach his car, he opened the door and got out to meet up with the police captain.  
  
"Hello, Gil. On your own tonight?" Brass stopped in front of Grissom and dug in his jacket pocket to get out his little notepad.  
  
"Busy night. The others are away on their cases. I paged Sara, she should be here soon." He looked towards the house and then back at Brass. "What have we got?"  
  
Flipping through his notes, Brass said, "Dead male, 36. Thomas Newman. Slumped on the couch in his living room. His boss called him in missig after he didn't show up for work two days straight. Two officers went to check and found him. And no," he grinned, "they didn't touch anything other than the front door."  
  
Grissom nodded as he started walking towards the house. "Okay. Tell Sara to take the perimeter when she gets here, I'll be inside." With that he walked into the house, barely acknowledging the officer positioned outside.  
  
Putting his field kit on the floor, he looked around the living room slowly. He noticed the tv was on, but other than that everything seemed to be normal. Grissom walked towards the victim and looked at the prone form lying on the couch. He seemed nearly... peaceful. Dressed in casual sweatpants and a t-shirt, half-empty bottle of beer on the coffee table. Checking the kitchen, he found a plate and a fork in the sink, obviously the last dinner. The rest of the food had caked to the plate from being out in the open for some while. Grissom put on gloves and grabbed two evidence bags from his kit. He gingerly placed the plate in one, and the fork into the other. Not having noticed any obvious wounds on the victim that could have been the cause of death, poisoning was beginning to look like a good possibility.  
  
He looked through the kitchen once more and then went back to the victim. Turning on his flashlight, he shone the beam over Thomas Newman's still form, looking for any clues. He puffed out some air in a frustrated gesture, and put the flashlight away. No signs of a violent death. Standing up he looked over the corpse again for a while, not beeing able to shake the feeling of dread. Newman had obviously lived alone. ESPN was on the tv, a baseball game. After a dinner on his own, he'd obviously settled on the couch with a cold beer to enjoy some sports. _'Look familiar, Gil?'_  
  
"Found anything?"  
  
The voice startled him slightly, and he shook his head to clear the unwelcome thoughts. Grissom turned to see Sara standing in the doorway, the flickering lights of the television washing over her. Had she been standing there, watching him? Grissom didn't like the thought of Sara catching him during an unguarded moment. He cleared his throat.  
  
"Nothing prerogative. No external wounds, no apparent cause of death." He motioned towards the bagged items on the kitchen counter. "Found an unwashed plate and fork."  
  
"You're thinking poinsoning?" She went over to the kitchen and lifted one of the bags. "This looks old. How long has he been dead?"  
  
"At least two days. Listen," he looked over to her, "I thought I've told Brass to tell you that you get the outside."  
  
She put the bag down and looked him in the eyes. "Yeah, like he'd need to."  
  
Before he could reply anything she turned towards the front door. "Been there, done that. Didn't find anyrhing that doesn't belong there. Sorry to disturb you in your... reverie here, but I thought I'd get some work done."  
  
With that she picked up some fingerprint powder and started dusting the door knob, her shoulders slightly stiff. Grissom watched her jerky movements for a while before getting out his cell phone.  
  
"David? Yes, when will you be here?" He listened for a while, nodding slightly. "Okay, don't rush it. I'll wait here."  
  
Sara had finished dusting the doorknob during the phone call and was in the process of lifting the prints she found on there.  
  
"One or two officers opened the door when they were checking on the victim. Get their prints to compare with yours. Oh, and pick up the evidence before you go back to the lab." Obviously dismissing her, Grissom took his field kit and walked towards the adjoining room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sara banged her fist on the steering wheel. _'Who the hell does he think I am? Some damn rookie?'_ Not liking the silence in the car, she turned on the radio and settled for some easy listening music.  
  
It was her own fault. Really, she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up in the first place. After his page to come work the case with him, she had felt slightly elated. Grissom hadn't worked a case with her in weeks. _'With her, yeah.'_ He couldn't even stand being in the same room with her for more than a couple of minutes. Be it a crime scene or the lab - let alone talk to her. Only about work related things. And even then, lately it had been more reprimands and off-hand remarks than anything constructive.  
  
Her hopes had evaporated as soon as she had approached Brass. _"Sorry, it's the perimeter again."_ he had told her with an apologetic shrug. Figures. Then as she had seen Grissom standing over the victim, with a calm, yet sad expression on his face, she had valued the opportunity to study him without him noticing. He hadn't moved for a long while, oblivious of her presence. But as soon as she's spoken, his face took on the usual mask and she could feel the tension all over again. And as he'd dismissed her as fast as he possibly could, she had had to rein in her emotions to not give him that satisfaction at least.  
  
_'This is getting ridiculous, Sara. You can't work like that.'_ Huffing in frustration again, she turned into the lab's parking lot. She shut off the engine and picked up her field kit. Shivering slightly from the cold night air that hit her as she opened the car door, she couldn't help but notice her feeling cold on the inside, too. _'Time to make a choice. This can't be healthy.'  
_

TBC

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**A/N:** Worth it? Yes, no? This is my first attempt at a case file, and possibly GSR. So, feel free to tell me if this sucks.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers see Chapter 1.  
  
**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews everybody! Makes my little heart swell ;) Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Should have the next one up tomorrow, if I don't get waylaid. Cheers Frumpy.

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Chapter 2:  
  
Hearing Sara leave the house, Grissom let out a heavy sigh before settling his field kit on the floor of the bedroom. One wall was dominated by a huge bookshelf. The bedside table had a little reading lamp, an open book and reading glasses lying below it. Grissom slowly circled the king size bed, noting just one pillow and blanket under the beige comforter. Not wanting to contemplate this fact, he quickly got to work, dusting the bedside table.  
  
"Prime example for a bachelor, huh?" Brass asked as he stepped into the room to look around.  
  
"I guess." Grissom paused to get out some fingerprint lifting tape. "I don't think his death was out of free will, though."  
  
"Oh?" Brass raised an eyebrow. "And you arrive at this conclusion how?"  
  
"No suicide note. Plus, if he was poisened, it doesn't look like suicide, either. Sleeping pills would be easier. Not much sense in poisoning your own food, if you want to end your life. Victims don't usually hedge like that, if they've made the decision." He got up and lifted the comforter off the bed.  
  
"Wow! You've given this some thought, huh?" Brass grinned slightly. "Maybe he was in denial. Or the kind of guy that doesn't take huge steps like this without agonizing for ages. Procrastination, Gil."  
  
Grissom looked at Brass' smirk and decided not to comment. Getting out the compact ASL, he swept it over the blanket first, and then the bedsheet. "Nothing."  
  
Brass turned around from walking out the room, "Lonely guy," then went into the living room.  
  
'Yeah. Lonely,' Grissom thought. Pausing again to look over the room, his gaze settled on the lonely pillow on the bed. He quickly turned his head and picked up his field kit. 'Don't dwell on it.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Music was blaring from the DNA lab as Sara rounded the corner. Seeing Greg Sanders nodding his head to the driving beat, she had to supress a smile before stepping inside.  
  
"Greg?"  
  
Getting only vigorous nodding as a response, she slowly walked up to him, before saying "Greg!" very close to his ear once more.  
  
"Jesus!" he spun around. "You just took ten years off my life!"  
  
"Yeah, well," she smiled. "I can say the same about your, err... music." She drew out the last word with a dubious expression on her face.  
  
Turning down the volume, Greg faced her once more. "How may I please you tonight?"  
  
Quelling the urge to roll her eyes, she held out the two evidence bags.  
  
"You want me to cook you dinner? At my place, and then....."  
  
"Don't even go there, Greg." Sara warned, raising her left hand to ward him off.  
  
Sighing theatrically, Greg took the two bags before huffing. "Work, work, work. Where are the pleasures of my life?"  
  
"It'll be a pleasure if you could run the samples through the GC/MS, and then hand it over to toxicology." Not waiting for an answer, Sara turned around and left the lab.  
  
'Story of my life.' Greg thought before getting to work.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Grissom hated Las Vegas traffic. He hated it with a passion. This was the second time tonight he was being held up by a traffic accident. Turning off the radio, he took some time to try and relax. For some reason he felt somewhat jittery and couldn't shake the feeling of cold dread. He shivered slightly. Ever since setting foot into Thomas Newman's house – 'the victim's', he chided himself – he'd felt a, for him, unusual sadness and nagging feeling regarding the case wash over him. 'What Gil, feeling sorry for yourself? Seeing the victim's sorry life....' He couldn't help but draw the parallels, despite every effort to stay detached.  
  
And then the one person that could make his life less sorry had caught him spacing out. He'd shut down. Again. He'd shut her out, and closed himself off. He couldn't bear her standing in that house. 'Would she come to the same conclusion? Would she draw the parallels, too?' So he'd sent her away as fast as possible, for once not caring that he'd obviously hurt her. How could he explain to her that it wasn't about her as a CSI, without giving away his true feelings. About the case. About her. Them...  
  
'Dammit! Focus!' He took a couple of quick breaths and pinched the bridge of his nose. Slowly easing past the accident site, he tried to banish any unwelcome thoughts from his mind.  
  
It proved to be harder than he thought.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -"Jaqui?" Sara stepped into the fingerprinting lab and looked around.  
  
"In here!" came the reply from the adjoining cubicle. "You got something for me?"  
  
Sara watched Jaqui step away from the fuming hood, and wipe her hands on the labcoat. "Yeah, some prints. These were taken from the victim's house." She handed Jaqui the cards. "One or two are possibly from the first two officers at the scene. Here are their sets."  
  
"Okay, I'll see what I can find." Jaqui took the prints and laid them on her worktable. Glancing quickly at Sara she picked up her magnifying glass. "You okay?"  
  
"Yes. Why?" Sara frowned.  
  
"You just look beaten." She placed the glass on the table and turned to Sara fully. "Defeated, actually."  
  
"Gee, thanks. I'm just tired, this was supposed to be my night off." She shrugged. "Don't worry, nothing a couple of hours of sleep can't fix." 'And how long have you been telling that to yourself, huh?'  
  
"Sure." Jaquie looked unconvinced. "I'll page you when I get results, okay?"  
  
Turning to leave Sara frowned slightly. "Yes. Thank you." A wave was the only reply she got.  
  
Sara checked the morgue to see if Doc Robbins had gotten any work done on their body, but when she saw David delivering the Thomas Newman just now, she left quickly in order to get some coffe and enjoy some down time. Walking towards the breakroom, she saw the lights on in Grissom's office. As she passed it, she could see him sitting at his deask, head on his clasped hands, and staring off into nothingness. Was it just her or did he seem somewhat distracted tonight?  
  
Not wanting to face him really, she quickly walked past, and went into the breakroom to get some much needed coffee.  
  
"Hey! I thought this was your night off?"  
  
Sara turned to see Nick Stokes walk into the breakroom. "Yeah, it was. I got called in to work a case with Grissom."  
  
"With Grissom, huh?" Nick settled onto a chair and rubbed the back of his neck wearily.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Nothing, just..." Nick shrugged. "You two don't seem to work together as often anymore, you know?"  
  
She threw him an angry glance. "What, you keeping statistics now?"  
  
"Hey..." holding up two hands in front of him in a gesture of innocence. "It's not like that's hard to notice. I'm not the only one, you know?"  
  
"Great. Don't you have work to do? For I sure do." With that she poured the coffee into the sink, and quickly left the room. 'Why was everybody turning into a psychoanalyst around her lately?'  
  
"Someone's chipper tonight." Nick mumbled to himself. "And thanks, my case is going really well, too."- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -"I just got a page from..." Grissom checked his pager again. "Mr. Freeze?"  
  
"The one and only!" Greg turned to him with a bright smile.  
  
"And what would Mr. Freeze have for me?"  
  
"Us." Sara walked into the room and readjusted the pager on her hip. "Or am I off the case now?"  
  
"No." Grissom regarded her with a weary glance. "Why...."  
  
"The results, Greg." She interrupted Grissom, quickly looking at the now uncomfortable lab tech.  
  
Greg glanced over the sheet before clearing his throat.. "Umm. The samples you gave me? Lasagna. The frozen kind."  
  
"Okay." Waiting a beat Grissom blinked. After a couple of seconds he sighed. "You called me – us – in for this?"  
  
"Oh, I thought it would be helpful for the victim's profile, or something...." Seeing Grissom about to lose his pleasant façade and send him an impatiend look he quickly went on. "Tox also found remnants of Ethylene Glycol on both the plate and the fork. And some as of yet unidentified substance. They're looking into it."  
  
"Ethylene Glycol." Sara murmured.  
  
"Found in anti-freeze." Grissom supplied as he snatched the paper away from Greg. "Thank you Mr. Freeze. Shall we, Sara?" He turned to leave the lab, the tension of moments ago seemingly forgotten in light of Greg's findings.

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TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers see Chapter 1  
  
**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, guys! Greatly appreciated! Please excuse the formatting of the last chapter – I usually put character thoughts in italics, but FF.net didn't seem to agree. Hope I've fixed it this time.

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Chapter 3:  
  
Sara walked into Grissom's office trailing close behind him. Trying to ban any personal feelings from her mind, she focused on the case at hand.  
  
"It looks more and more like poisoning. I guess you were right." She said as she sat down in a chair opposite Grissom's desk.  
  
Not acknowledging her compliment, he got into the chair behind his paperwork littered desk. "I'll have Brass check the victim's background. See if there is anyone with a motive. Stunted girlfriend maybe." He picked up the phone.  
  
"I don't know. His house didn't look like he had a girlfriend." Sara said absentmindedly.  
  
Grissom shot her a quick glance before looking back at the phone on his desk. "Brass. Check the victim's background. Coworkers, friends, everything. See if anybody can name someone with a motive for killing him, female friends and so forth." He shifted a little in his seat as he felt Sara's gaze on him. "Yes, okay. We found traces of Ethylene Glycol in his food. It's looking like poisoning all right. Sara and I'll go back to the crime scene."  
  
He hung up the phone and picked up his jacket. Waiting for Sara to walk out of his office before him, he quietly closed the door and followed her to the parking lot.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -The drive back to the crime scene was spent in an uncomfortable silence. Sara still being miffed at Grissom for his earlier conduct, and Grissom not knowing how to open up a conversation about the case, without giving too much away. He parked next to the now lone police car and got out without waiting for Sara.  
  
As they stepped into the house, he turned towards the kitchen. "Check the bathroom. See if you can find anything like anti-freeze or something that might contain Ethylene Glycol."  
  
"Okay." She took her kit and walked through the bedroom, which was adjoining the bathroom. Sara's gaze swept over the large bed with the one set of pillow and blanket. In the bathroom she looked over the single toothbrush and various male hygene articles. _'Sure doesn't look like a girlfriend to me,'_ she thought again.  
  
Rooting through the cabinets, she found some pain medication, food supplements, and cleaning stuff. Nothing with Ethylene Glycol, though.  
  
Sara walked back into the kitchen and found Grissom looking into the fridge. He stood unblinking and unmoving, looking intently at the contents of the refridgerator. Sara walked up behind him. "Got lucky?"  
  
For the second time that night Grissom got ripped out of his musings by Sara's presence. He quickly closed the fridge, but not before Sara caught a glimpse of a couple of bottles of beer, and various packaged meals. "Think someone poisoned his food?"  
  
"Possibly. I didn't find anything containing Ethylene Glycol in the kitchen."  
  
"Ditto for the bathroom. Think the fridge would hold some answers?" Sara asked, watching him closely.  
  
"Maybe." Some unreadible emotion crossed his features before he schooled his face into an impassionate mask again and faced her fully. "We should take some of the food back to the lab, get Greg to run some tests on it."  
  
"Sure." She reached for the refrigerator door, but he stepped into her way.  
  
"Why don't you go call Brass. See if he got anything on the victim."  
  
Sara frowned and stepped back. "Why don't I." She said flatly, before stalking out of the room.  
  
Grissom sighed and opened the fridge again. _'I could be standing in my kitchen.'_ He thought. Why was he acting this way? And especially around Sara at that? Surely, his behavior would only fuel her apparent suspicions. She seemed to be set on watching him tonight. Sighing again, he packed some of the beers and foodstuff to take with him. _'Snap out of it, Gil. Stop projecting.'  
_- - - - - - - - - - - - -Outside, Sara was _this _close to screaming. What in hell was going on? Was Grissom doing this on purpose? He knew she didn't appreciate being kept out of the loop on something. But something was off regarding Grissom tonight, she just couldn't put a finger on it.  
  
Getting out her cell phone, she speed dialed Brass' number.  
  
"Brass."  
  
"Sara here. I'm to check in with you. Got anything for us?" she slowly walked towards the car.  
  
"What am I? A fucking genius? I just arrived at his work place, for god's sake!" Brass replied, clearly upset.  
  
"Hey!" she frowned at nothing in particular – well, maybe some_one_ in particular. "Don't yell at me, yell at Grissom."  
  
"Sorry. I shall call!" with that he hung up.  
  
_'Great,'_ Sara thought. _'This night is going so well... Now I got Brass pissed off, too.'_ And with Grissom seemingly set on pissing HER off....  
  
As if on cue, Grissom walked up to the car. "And?"  
  
"And nothing. Brass needs some more time." She walked to the passenger side of the car. "Oh, and I suggest you don't call him for at least an hour," she threw over her right shoulder.  
  
"Okay..." Grissom looked at her questioningly, but as nothing more came forth, he shrugged nearly imperceptibly and got into the car.- - - - - - - - - - - - - -Brass flipped his cell phone shut and cursed under his breath. Pulling into Thomas Newman's workplace, he calmed his thoughts and decided to keep the various ideas about getting back to Grissom to himself. For now.  
  
He double-checked his notes and walked into the modern glass and steel building of _Nevada IT Developers_. Looking around the spacious front room, he approached a young, dark haired woman sitting behind the reception desk.  
  
"Jim Brass. I called about seeing the Department Manager?" He held out his badge for the woman to see.  
  
"Ah yes, Mr. Brass." She said pleasantly, checking some handwritten notes. "He'll have time for you in a couple of minutes. May I ask what this is about?"  
  
Wanting to quell her curiosity before it got out of hand, he addressed her again. "Ms. ..."  
  
"Cole." She supplied eagerly, a smile forming that didn't quite reach her eyes.  
  
"Ms. Cole. You may not. This is an active investigation." Brass turned to sit down in one of the overstuffed chairs provided in the room.  
  
"Investigation?", she said in a small voice. Brass cringed inwardly. _'Damn!'_  
  
"This is about Thomas, isn't it?"  
  
His interest piqued, Brass approached her again. "And what would you know about Mr. Newman?"  
  
"Mr. Newman, yes. Just... he didn't show up for work for a couple of days. I was getting worried. You see, I'm responsible for the sign-in sheets, so I notice these kind of things. He was always so responsible."  
  
"_'Was?'_" Brass asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Errr, yes. I mean, you wouldn't be here otherwise, would you?" She busied herself with straightening out some items on her desk.  
  
"Ms. Cole. What exactly was your relationship with Mr. Newman?"  
  
She looked up surprised, big eyes going this way and that. "Relationship? Oh no. I... he worked here. He was nice. That's all."  
  
"I see," Brass said suspiciously. Just as he was about to proceed with the questioning, a man in an evidently custom tailored suit stepped out of the big oak doors on Brass' right side.  
  
"Mr. Brass?"  
  
Cursing internally, Brass gave a short smile before shaking the man's hand. "Det. Jim Brass. I'd like a minute or two with you."  
  
"Certainly. I'm Steve Jenkins. Thomas worked for my department." He shook his head slightly. "Why don't we move this into my office?" At Brass' nod Jenkins turned towards the reception. "Janice? Please put any calls on hold, or tell them I'll call back!"  
  
"Of course, Mr. Jenkins."  
  
Brass threw her a quick glance before following the manager into his generous office.

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TBC 


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimers:** See Chapter 1

**A/N:** Again, mucho gracias for the nice reviews! And please be gracious with my random punctuation. English is my second language, and I can only read "The Proper Usage of Our Friend the Comma" for so long before nodding off…

On with the next chapter.

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Chapter 4 

Grissom was looking through Greg's findings again, trying to see if he had missed anything. Concluding that this definitely looked like a poisoning, he decided to wait for Brass to see if the police captain had come up with any possible suspects. Just as he was about to pick up the phone, Sara walked into his office.

"Jaqui checked all fingerprints we found. Excluded two sets of prints from the front door as belonging to the officers first on the scene. The rest on the door, in the kitchen, bath- and bedroom all belong to the victim." She plopped down into a chair. "So, basically, we got nada. And definitely no girlfriend."

Grissom frowned slightly before tapping his index and middle finger against his pursed lips. "Well, the prints might not give us anything to work with. Let's check in with Doc Robbins, shall we?"

"You shall keep your butt in your chair, and listen to what I've found out – in record time, I might add." Brass stepped into the office. "Especially considering you're pushing me around like Greg."

Grissom raised one eyebrow and left it at that, while Sara shot Brass an apologetic look.

"Yeah, well, I see you're in a repentant mood." He snorted slightly, and pulled out his notepad. "I checked with Mr. Jenkins, Newman's manger at the IT company. He was the one who called Newman in as missing. Nothing suspicious there. Nicer office than yours, though, I might add." Before Grissom could react he went on, "But the lady at the reception desk did pique my interest, so I'll look into her a bit more." Flipping a page, Brass scanned his notes quickly. "Checked Newman's hospital records, too. He had been admitted twice during the last three months. Symptoms were nausea and, well, tripping."

"Tripping?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, he was drunk off his ass."

"So much so that he had to be hospitalized?" Sara looked questioningly at Grissom.

"Actually, these symptoms are typical for Ethylene Glycol poisoning." He shifted his intense ganze from Sara back to Brass. "The doctors diagnosed _'tripping'_?"

"Yes. Makes your trust level in our hospitals soar, right?"

Sara snorted, while a slight frown was Grissom's only reaction. "I think I'll check with the Doc to see if he found anything." He started to get up.

"I'll look into that reception lady a bit more closely. Keep me posted." With that Brass left the office and walked towards the LVPD building.

"Grissom?" Sara asked, still seated in her chair, turning to his pausing form in the doorway. "You want me to come or do you have anything else for me to do?"

Her tone was sweet, too sweet for Grissom's liking. "Why don't you check with Greg, if he's got any headway with the unidentified substance. Then come join me in the morgue."

"Of course." With that she quickly moved past him, not giving him a single look.

_'Nothing sweet about that one…_' Sighing quietly, Grissom got on his way to the morgue.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What do you mean you got waylaid?"

"Sorry, Sara. Warrick and Catherine had some pressing samples from their murder case that needed processing. I'll get to your stuff next, promise!" Greg made the boyscout sign and smiled sweetly.

"Sure. Just… page me, okay?"

"Will do! Anything for you, my…"

"Don't." Sara cut him off. "I'm really in no mood for this. Go suck up to Grissom." She left without a backwards glance, leaving one sad puppy of lab tech behind.

As she entered the morgue, she could see Doc Robbins placing a green blanket over the Y-incision on the body. The fact that the head was covered, too, didn't bode too well for Sara's stomach. Grissom was looking intently at a sheet of paper, then raised an incredulous face towards Robbins.

"NMS? Are you sure?"

"I don't do guesswork here, Gil. Your victim suffered from NMS." Robbins turned towards the sink to wash his hands.

"NMS?" Sara asked, looking over Grissom's shoulder at the piece of paper.

"Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, a metabolic disorder." He tried to ignore the warmth coming from Sara's body close to his back, more apparent in the coldness of the morgue. "Symptoms are very similar to Ethylene Glycol poisoning. The body produces toxins, the patient starts to suffer from nausea, and apparent intoxication." He sighed heavily, and moved slightly away. "We'll have to get Greg to run the samples again, see if he hasn't made a mistake. Samples from the victim came back with Prpoyon acid, which is very similar to Ethylene Glycol."

Sara took a step back, too. "You mean, he might have died of a natural cause?" She turned towards Robbins.

"From my point of view, yes. It is easily mixed up." Robbins shrugged apologetically.

"But Grissom," Sara turned back towards him. "That doesn't make any sense. The Ethylene Glycol was found in his food, not in Newman himself." Grissom looked thoughtful for a moment, before shaking his head slightly, as if to clear some cobwebs from his brain.

"That's right. I didn't…." He didn't finish the sentence, and looked at Sara, who shot him a quizzical glance.

"Oh?" Robbins paused from transferring the body from the slab, oblivious to the exchange behind him. "Well. Then somebody must have known of his condition, and used the Ethylene Glycol to mirror symptoms of NMS."

"Yes." Grissom put the sheet into the file folder he was holding. "Now we need to know who would have known of Newman's condition, and who is in a position to poison him." He sighed, and ran his right hand through his hair. "I guess we have to wait if Brass finds anything more. Till then, go home Sara."

"What?" She swiveled around.

"Go home, get some rest. I know that's what I'll be doing. And please don't argue?" He turned around and left the morgue, with a tiredness to him that seemed uncharacteristic.

Sara looked at Doc Robbins before shrugging jerkily and turning to leave, too. "Good night then, I guess." She knew what she would do first when she got home.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom opened the door to his townhouse and sighed heavily. He seemed to be doing this a lot lately. Especially this night.

Taking off his shoes and placing the jacket on a hook by the door, he shuffeled further into his living room, and sat down heavily on his couch. He didn't bother to turn on the light, he could feel a headache coming. _'Great. Just what I needed.'_ Rubbing his temples slowly, he felt the pain only intensifying. With a resigned groan, he got up and went into his bedroom to retrieve his medicine from the bedside table. Pausing when he saw his bed and the lonely book lying on the small table, he quickly grabbed the pills and left the room.

Grissom got himself a glass of water from the fridge, his gaze wandering over the contents there. _'Shit!'_ Nearly slamming the door shut, he drowned two pills with the water then put the glass down on the kitchen counter with a loud clank. _'Shit!'_ Grissom wasn't a man to curse freely. Twice in the matter of a couple of seconds was serious. Pinching the bridge of his nose in order to gain some semblance of calm, and still his raging thoughts, he walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

He put on his shoes, grabbed the casefile and jacket, and left the quiet, dark townhouse behind himself. _'Might as well get some work done.'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sara had just sat down at her desk with the piece of paper and pen in hand. She looked at the sheet for a long time, till the writing began to blur in front of her eyes. Puffing out some air frustratedly, she threw the pen down and went to the kitchen. She paced for a few minutes, scratched an itchy area on her right arm, and then walked back to the desk purposefully. _'Quit delaying it. You know it has to be done. You know it….'_

She was about to pick the pen up again, when a soft knock on the door made her pause. Quickly removing the pen and paper from the desk, she sighed, not sure if she was angry or thankful for the interruption. The knocking was repeated a little louder this time, and she went over to the front door. _'Yes, yes. On my way…'_

* * *

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimers:** see chapter 1

**A/N:** Thanks, _thewretchedchild. _And _Barb8 _- I guess the first half of your wish will be fullfilled ;)

Thanks for the reviews – makes my day! Two or three more chapters after this, I think. Got the case all mapped out, but not sure where I'm going with G/S. Guess it'll depend on my mood...

* * *

Chapter 5

_'Well, that's certainly unexpected._' Sara leaned in the open door and crossed her arms in front of her chest, shivering slightly in the first rays of sunshine of the morning.

"Hi," she said guardedly, not wanting to show her emotions one way or the other. On the one hand, she was still mad at his earlier behavior. On the other hand, this was more than unusual, and she wouldn't be such a good investigator, if it weren't for a certain amount of curiosity. She was just so damn conflicted recently when it came to Grissom.

"Hi," he said, just as guardedly, with a little nervousness added.

"What can I do for you, Grissom?" She didn't budge from her spot at the door, effectively blocking his way.

"May I come in?" he asked somewhat uncertain, shuffling a little.

Sara sure wasn't ready to make it this easy for him. Noting Grissom's apparent discomfort only made her more annoyed. "What _do_ you want?"

Grissom wasn't sure. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten here. When he had left his house, his intention had been to go back to the lab, and try to get lost in work. His usual way of trying to get totally engrossed in something, and not face his own raging thoughts. But he had gotten lost in his musings on the drive, and somehow had endep up here, in front of her apartment. As if he had been subconsciously drawn here on this lonely night. He ran one hand hesitatingly through his hair, not really wanting to think about the implications.

Waiting for an answer, Sara sighed as none came forth. When it came to a non work-related talk, she was the one who had to take things upon herself and move them forward. _'As usual,'_ she thought, giving up waiting. Wearily, she put her hands on her hips. "Well?"

"I…" Grissom slowly lifted the casefile. "I thought we could talk a bit about the case?" He tried to smile tentatively. _'That's good. She'll believe that. Retreat back to work, that always, well, works.'_

Sara was having none of it. _'Now he wants to talk?'_

"Listen, I wanted to talk back at the lab. You sent me home. I didn't even argue, just as you'd desired. I don't think so."

Grissom let the file drop at his side. "Well, we can go back to the lab…" This wasn't working the way he'd imagined it.

"No."

He shifted his gaze to the floor, and then back up again. "You're not going to let me in?"

"It was my night off. I came in to work without arguing, only to be treated like the newest rookie by you, closely followed by being ignored. Now you come here, just to talk about the case?" She huffed indignantly. "I don't think so." She turned around and reached for the door to close it.

"I didn't."

That stopped her. His tentative admission made face him again. She regarded him standing there on her doorstep. His gaze was downcast, as if he was trying to hide something in his eyes. It never ceased to amaze her, how Grissom stopped functioning and seemingly lost all confidence, when other people got involved outside of work. "You didn't treat me like a rookie and like I wasn't there? Or you didn't come here to talk about the case?"

"I didn't come…." He looked at her carefully schooled and closed off expression, and cleared his throat. "Never mind. I shouldn't have come." With that he turned and walked towards his car.

Sara failry slammed the door shut, before starting to pace through her living room. _'What was that about?'_ Grissom had never come by her apartment before. And certainly never looking this uncertain and… yes, yearning. Cursing internally, she sat down on her couch. She hated the fact that Grissom still had such a hold over her. No one could get her quite as worked up as he could. _'Why? I've made my decision, right?'_ She looked over to her desk. _'Right?' _She hadn't been ready to let him into her apartment now. _'Into my apartment, or into my life?'_

She walked over to her desk and opened the drawer. _'Let him stew a little. What's he going to do? Fire me?'_ A short, dry laugh that echoed through the room was her only answer.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Walking into his office the next evening, Sara noted Grissom's tired appearance. Checking the back of the room, she saw a blanked haphazardly draped over the couch, and a half-drunken cup of coffee next to his right arm on the desk. He sat in his chair, eyes downcast, not noticing or not acknowledging her presence. "Did you sleep here?"

He rubbed a hand over his eyes, not lifting his gaze from the desk. "Yes."

Sara frowned and sat down in a chair. "Did you lose your key?"

"No."

_'Ah, mono-syllable Grissom again.'_ She leaned back and regarded him with a weary glance. "Why?"

He looked up briefly. "Why what?" Grissom was having trouble concentrating on the conversation. _'I'm too tired to go through the events on her doorstop.' _He had sat in his car after her door slammed shut, looking towards her apartment, not sure of what had happened there._ 'You messed up. Again. That's what happened, Gil.'_

"Why did you sleep here?" She was getting exasperated.

_'Oh.'_ Thankful that she wasn't talking about this morning, he didn't think before speaking. "It wasn't as quiet."

"What?"

Looking up at her, Grissom shifted in his seat, snapping back to the present moment.. _'Where did that come from? I must be more tired than I thought.'_ He cleared his throat and got up. "Greg just paged. Let's see if he got anything new."

Before the abrupt subject change registered on Sara, he was out of the door and well on his way to Greg's lab. Banging one fist on the chair, she got up and followd him. _'Why will I never learn? Dammit.'_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Aaah, the Dynamic Duo is back!" Greg swiveled his chair towards the two investigators, grinning. Noting the tired and annoyed expression on Grissom's face, and the thinly veiled anger in Sara's, he quickly sobered. "Yes, ahm…" He cleared his throat, and reached for a sheet of paper.

Not waiting for an explanation, Grissom took hold of it, scanning the contents.

"As you can see," he looked pointedly at Grissom, who didn't take any notice of it. "I ran tests on the other food and beer you've brought in. Nothing unusual with it. But.." He paused for dramatic effect, which was completely lost on his audience. "Tox was able to identify the unknown substance in the original samples from the plate and fork. Dantrolene, Bromocriptine, and Lorazepam."

Grissom looked at Sara. "Didn't you say, you found food supplements in Tho…, the victims bathroom?" He quickly caught himself, hoping no one had noticed his slip.

"Yes. You think he mashed them into his food?" Sara was too thrilled by these new findings to notice Grissom's nearly addressing the victim by first name.

"Probably. Some people have a revulsion when it comes to swallowing pills. It would also play into the killer's hands. Ethylene Glycol has a sickly sweet taste. Newman would've noted it, had he taken the supplements orally. But it would have been hardly noticable mixed with the food." He quickly nodded at Greg before leading Sara outside.

"Well, if the supplements were poisoned, we need to find out who had access to them." She hardly noticed Grissoms's hand at the small of her back, while lost in thoughts, possible theories spinning through her mind.

"Yes." Grissom nodded slightly. "You go back to the crime scene and get the supplements. Take an officer with you." Grissom stoppped walking and turned towards his office.

Sara suddenly noticed the absence of warmth on her back and turned around. "And you will…?"

"Get Brass to bring in that lady from the reception desk. He said she had access to the victim's hospital files. She might have known of his condition."

"Okay!" She flashed him a quick smile, totally engrossed by the new developments. "I'll meet you in the interrogation room when I get back." With that she rounded the corner and was gone.

* * *

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimers:** see Chapter 1

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. On with the case.

* * *

Chapter 6

Grissom was standing behind the two-way mirror as Brass brought in the suspect. The woman was young, mid-20s, long dark hair, good clothing. And she was nervous, that much was obvious.

Sara had called 5 minutes ago from toxicology, so he'd decided to wait for her to drop off the food supplements, and then come join him. He didn't want to aggravate her any more tonight.

Brass left the suspect after he got her a paper cup of coffee, and had an officer stationed inside the room. She nervously looked around, her gaze lingering at the mirror, and sipped the coffee.

"Looks nervous, hm?"

"Hmm." Grissom turned to Brass and nodded slightly as the police captain entered the room. "Did she object?"

"Well, I didn't tell her she was a suspect, just that we'd need to question her a bit closer. Get some background information, gain a perspective, you know the drill."

Grissom turned back towards the mirror, watching her again. "Janice Cole… Did you find anything at her office?"

"Yes, a bottle of food supplements. Gave it to tox." Brass smirked. He felt they were near to closing the case.

"Oh?" Grissom lifted an eyebrow. "I guess she has every right to be nervous then, see how she can explain that. Anything else?"

Brass nodded. "We took her computer. Archie is working on it. And - you're gonna love this." He grinned at Grissom, who turned towards him. "Guess whom she had a little fling with a couple of months ago?"

Grissom's other eyebrow went up at that. _'That's certainly interesting'_ "That wouldn't be one Thomas Newman?"

"The one and only. Several of the other employees were able to confirm. Line, hook, and sinker!"

"Think he was hurt by her breaking up the relationship?"

"Wow, it isn't like you to spout theories. Who said she broke up with him." Brass regarded Grissom, and frowned. "He's the one who's dead."

At that moment Sara walked in, slightly flushed, saving Grissom from having to answer. "Good, you haven't started yet."

"I wanted to wait for you." Grissom stole a quick glance at her as she ran a hand through her hair.

"That's… nice," she said slightly surprised. "I got the supplements and gave them to tox. They're running the samples from them, after they're done with Brass' samples. Should get the results soon."

"Good. Let's go. Ms. Cole is waiting." With that, Grissom turned and headed for the interrogation room, Brass looking after him, still frowning.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Janice Cole was waiting nervously, still sipping her now tepid coffee. Grissom entered first and held the door open for Sara and Brass to proceed into the room in front of him.

Brass motioned for the officer to wait outside, and closed the door behind him. He turned to Janice Cole, as Sara sat down at the table. "Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Cole."

She turned towards the police captain and then looked at the two investigators, smiling nervously. "No problem. I really don't see the need for any more questions, though."

Grissom walked around the table to stand in front of her, and held out his hand. "Ms. Cole, I'm Gil Grissom." He shook her hand, and then motioned towards Sara. "This is Sara Sidle, we're the two investigators assigned to this case. We just need to ask you a few more questions."

He sat down opposite her with Sara on his right.

_'Let's dive in.'_ "Ms. Cole, we found food supplements in your office."

"You went through my office? Can you do that?" She rubbed her hands, and looked up at him.

"Well," Grissom cleared his throat. "It's standard procedure to search a victim's workplace. How do you explain the food supplements?"

"I…, well, I got Thomas his supplements. You see, it was covered by our medical insurance, and this way it was easier for me to clear it with our financial department. Less paperwork, you know?" She shifted in her seat, as if she was uncomfortable. "What does this have to do with Thomas' death?"

Grissom debated with himself whether to play this nicely, or go ahead and spill the beans. '_Here we go.'_

"He died through poisoning."

"What?" She actually looked surprised, though Grissom wasn't sure if it was genuine or good acting. "Are… are you thinking that… that…"

"What I'm thinking is irrelevant. What the evidence says, is what counts. Who has access to your computer?"

Somewhat baffled by Grissom's sudden subject change, she frowned slightly. "Just me, of course. Why?"

"Is it password protected?"

"Yes. Why?"

Grissom didn't react to her questions, but drove on. "I understand you have access to your employee's hospital records?"

"Yes. They're my responsibility. Where are you going with this?"

"You knew of Mr. Newman's condition?"

Janice Cole shook her head, now truly baffled. "Condition? What condition? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Grissom tilted his head slightly to his left. "You got him the food supplements for it."

"I didn't know about any condition! Was he sick?"

Grissom considered Janice for a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly. "What did you get the supplements for, then?"

"It was covered by our med insurance."

_'This is going in circles.'_ Grissom decided to go try another route, but he sensed Sara leaning forward slightly, so he let her go.

"Ms. Cole. I checked the books." She looked at a sheet of paper in front of her. "Mr. Newman wasn't the only one, who got food supplements. But he was the only one for whom you got them." Sara looked up again and directly at Janice. "Why the preferrential treatment?"

"Thomas was one of our senior partners. There are certain perks that come with this." She looked steadily at Sara now.

"Like poisoning his supplements?" Brass snorted.

Janice Cole swiveled around. "I did NOT poison him! What are you implying?"

Shooting Brass an angry glance, Grissom focused on the woman again, and decided for yet another quick subject change. "Ms. Cole. Did you have a relationship with Mr. Newman?"

Her eyes grew big, and she quickly looked down, nervously twiddling her fingers. "I already answered that question when Mr. Brass asked."

"Yes. And he didn't believe you, so I'm asking again."

She swallowed nervously, still not giving a direct answer.

Sara looked over at Grissom, and then at Janice. "You know, your lying about this doesn't exactly make us believe anything else you say. We talked with some of the other employees."

"Okay, okay!" Janice sighed. "We had… a short romance. Nothing serious."

"Nothing serious." Sara laced her fingers on the table. "Did Mr. Newman agree with that, too?"

"It was nothing, only a week or so. I had broken up with my boyfriend, so Thomas was sort of a.. consolation, you know?" She shrugged.

Brass walked up to the table besides Grissom. "And why didn't you tell me that right away?"

"Because I'm back together with my boyfriend. He…, he didn't know about this." She looked imploringly at Sara. "I didn't want him to find out."

A loud knock at the door kept Sara from further questions. She shot an annoyed glance at Greg as he poked his head inside the room.

"Grissom? Sara? You're gonna need to see this! Like, right now!"

Sara frowned at Grissom, then got up. "We'll be right back, Ms. Cole."

Brass sat down in the chair Grissom had just gotten up from. "I'll keep her company."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Closing the door behind him and Sara, Grissom turned to Greg. "This better be good. Real good."

Greg nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, I know. Sorry to interrupt the interrogation, but this couldn't wait. I got the results back from tox. The supplements Brass brought in?"

"Yes?" Sara asked, hope evident in her voice. _'We got her!'_

"They're cleared. No Ethylene Glycol in them."

"Damn!" Sara hissed. "I really thought we had her." She looked towards the interrogation room and bit her lower lip angrily, then turned to Greg. "Could she have covered her tracks?"

"Well, the bottle was bought five days before Newman's death – date on it proves that. Sorry."

Grissom hadn't shown any reaction throughout the exchange, but nodded slightly at Greg. "Thank you. Good work."

Greg smiled happily, and turned to walk back to his lab.

"Dammit." Sara was still cursing. "I really thought she did it. I mean, she seemed so nervous, and she had a connection to the victim. Damn..."

"Sara. One clue didn't fit in. Happens. We'll have to wait and see if Archie turns something up." He took her by the elbow and led her to the side of the hallway, so that she was standing with her back to the wall. Grissom looked at her closely "Stay focused. Don't let this throw you back."

"I know that, Grissom, dammit." She sighed, and shrugged off his hand on her elbow. "Okay, I'll tell her she's free to go. You go and get on Archie's nerves."

She walked into the interrogation room before Grissom could respond, so he was left with raising an eyebrow at thin air.

* * *

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimers:** see chapter 1

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay, but this week was just too hectic for my taste…

* * *

Chapter 7

Sara walked into Grissom's office. He was sitting behind his desk again, scanning the case file.

"Find anything new?"

Grissom looked up from the file, and watched her sitting down in a chair in front of him. "No. There's nothing we've overlooked. We have to wait for Archie, see if he can find anything."

"Hmm." Sara nodded somewhat absentmindedly, and shifted her gaze from Grissom to his desk.

Taking off his glasses, Grissom regarded Sara for a while. "Is there anything else?"

"No. No, there isn't." She shifted her gaze somewhat nervously.

"Sara…"

"Look, shift has been over for two hours. Do you mind if I go home? I got some things to do."

"No, of course not. I was about to head out myself." He closed the file.

"Okay. Page me when Archie found anything, okay?" She moved to get up from the chair.

"Listen…," Grissom ran his index and middle finger over his lips, before focusing on Sara again. "Would you like to maybe grab some breakfast? Talk things over."

_'What?_' Sara looked somewhat dumbfounded. _'Did Grissom just ask me out for breakfast? What… Why now all of a sudden? Things? What is he talking about?'_

"Sara?" Her quietness and surprised expression weren't exactly encouraging in Grissom's eyes.

"What?"

Grissom coughed. "Well, breakfast?" _'How eloquent, Gil.'_

"I don't think so, Grissom. I…, I have some things to do." Sara got up from the chair. "See you tonight."

"Okay." He watched her walk out of his office, before sighing, and running a hand through his hair. _'What did you expect, Gil. You've waited too long.'_ He sighed again, before grabbing his jacket, and turning off the lights behind him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sara cursed under her breath. Pulling out of the parking lot, she caught a glimpse of Grissom as he slowly walked to his Tahoe. Was it just her, or did he seem a bit defeated?

_'Damn!'_ He had done it. He had made a move, and she had pulled back. Or had he? _'Things. What does that mean now?'_ As typical for Grissom, he had said a lot without really saying anything. She could make of it what she wanted, and he could deny anything afterwards. Infuriating as hell.

Sara had arrived at a point, where she wouldn't just jump at his every word. Her decision had been made. The resignation papers were signed. But why hadn't she taken her resignation to work today? And why had Grissom to be so nice this night? As if he was making it harder for her on purpose. She sighed deeply.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom's pager went off just as the end credits began to roll. He sighed, and proceeded to apologize to the few people who were sitting in his row as he got out.

Walking out of the cinema into the midday sun, he checked his pager. 'Lab. ASAP. Archie.'

That looked promising. He sent a quick page to Sara, rubbed his tired eyes, and took off for the lab. He had gotten home after the failed breakfast invitation, thinking to take it easy, realx a bit, but had found it impossible to quiet down enough to accomplish much of that. After reading a sentence for the third time, and still not being able to grasp the meaning, he'd tossed the novel on the coffee table, got dressed and left his townhouse. A movie had been just the right thing to take him away from everything else. A chance to get lost in something besides work or unwelcome thoughts and emotions.

Walking into the tech department, he spotted Archie sitting behind a desk full of computers, getting some printouts from one of the printers behind him. As he heard the steps, he turned around and looked at Grissom.

"Wow, that was fast."

Grissom schrugged. "I aim to please. Your page seemed urgent."

"Yes, I found something. The computer from that lady you interrogated?" He pointed to one of the pcs in various stages of completion. "I checked all recent log ins, especially all checking the medical files of the employees, as you told me. There are quite a lot of log ins."

"She said she was responsible for them." Grissom walked around the desk.

"Yes. But one file was called upon repeatedly. Thomas Newman, the victim."

Grissom looked over the printout. "Yes, we established a connection between these two, but nothing we could prove."

"That's not what I'm driving at." Archie pointed towards the bottom of the sheet. "I checked all those log ins. She wasn't the only one, who checked the files. See?" He pointed at a specific log in entry. "It looks like it was accessed via her computer, but the IP address doesn't match."

"Someone else logged in under her name?"

"Yes. I was able to get all IP addresses from the company, Brass talked to their IT department." He turned, and reached over to take another printout. "IP address matches one Steve Jenkins."

Grissom shifted his gaze to his left and thought for a moment. "Brass mentioned him. He is the manager. I'd say it's normal for him to have access to all files."

Archie nodded. "That's true, and I thought so too. But, why would he sign in under a different ID, trying to hide the fact that he checked the files." He grabbed yet another printout. "Plus, I checked his log ins, too. The only hospital records he ever called up were Thomas Newman's. No one elses."

Grissom nodded slowly. "Good work, Archie. Thank you." He took the printouts and walked to his office.

He sat down in his chair and picked up the phone. "Brass? I need you to do a background check on Steve Jenkins." He listened for a beat. "Yes, I know. Something came up. Okay. Call me when you get something." He put the receiver down and noticed Sara standing in the doorway.

"Sara, come in." He motioned towards one of the chairs.

"Hey Grissom." She sat. "I got your page."

"Yes. Sorry to disturb you so early, but there has been a new development."

"I heard you tell Brass to check a Steven Jenkins. He's the manager of the victim's workplace, right?"

"Um hm. Archie found that he'd accessed Newman's hospital files."

"Okay." Sara rubbed her arm slowly. "Think about calling for a warrant?"

Grissom shook his head. "I don't think we have probable cause for that. Not yet." He got up. "Let's check with tox and see if they're through with the samples from the supplements you brought in."

"You look tired Grissom." Sara slowly got up from the chair.

"What?"

"You look tired. Have you had the chance to catch any sleep?"

"I…, no, not yet. I was busy. Never mind me." He turned and left his office, leaving Sara standing behind.

She softly fingered the folded sheet of paper she had been holding, before putting it away into her purse, and following Grissom.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Greg wasn't in since it was officially dayshift now. Sara was glad she hadn't run into Ecklie, yet. She could stay somewhat calm around Grissom, but there was no telling what might happen if Ecklie crossed her way. She watched Grissom talking with the other lab tech. He shook his head, and pointed to something on the results. Grissom nodded slightly, thanked the tech and went back out into the hall to join Sara, who had just come back from the locker room.

"They ran the samples. Newman's bottle contained Ethylene Glycol."

Sara took the sheet of paper from him. "This is the same kind that Janice Newman had in her office."

"Yes, only her bottle wasn't poisoned."

"Maybe not yet." Sara grinned.

"You have an idea?" Grissom started to follow her down the hall towards the evidence storage.

"Well, somewhere in between Janice Cole's office and Newman's house, someone must have put the Ethylene Glycol in the supplements." She signed in, and walked towards the evidence vault, checking the various boxes containing old and new evidence. "I mean, a single dose of Ethylene Glycol wouldn't have killed him, right?"

"No." Grissom pulled out the right box for her. "Only a steady dosage over a medium period of time would have caused his body to succumb to the toxins to kill him."

Sara rooted through the box. "So, only someone who knew of his condition could have done it. He or she knew the symptoms could be mirrored, and knew just what supplements he used."

"Yes. But we can't prove Janice Cole knew about it. And only because Jenkins checked the med files, doesn't mean he knew of it. Newman was never diagnosed with NMS in these files. We don't have a direct link between either of them."

"Maybe not yet." Sara pulled out an evidence bag and held it in front of Grissom. "But I think we'll find our answer here."

Grissom looked at the bottle of food supplements from Newman's house. "Fingerprints."

"Exactly!" She looked at him before turning. "You really must be tired, Grissom."

* * *

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimers:** See chapter 1

**A/N**: One more chapter to come after this.

* * *

Chapter 8

"Nothing. I can't believe this!" Sara looked at the bottle once more, before turning to Grissom next to her. He had sat quietly to the left of her, watching her print the bottle.

"Not even Newman's?" He took the bottle and looked it over himself.

"No." She shook her head. "How can that be? He must have picked it up at least once."

"Looks wiped to me." Grissom turned the bottle a bit for her to see.

"Yes, but… why would he wipe his bottle?"

"He wouldn't." At her raised eyebrow he placed the bottle back on the table and walked over to her. "The evidence log says it was inside a paper bag in his bathroom when you picked it up."

"Yes. From the pharmacy."

He nodded. "Newman never took it out. So, whoever had it last before Newman picked it up from Janice Cole, must have wiped it."

"And you only wipe something, when you don't want your fingerprints on it." She pondered this for a moment. "That would exclude Janice Cole."

"How so?" Grissom looked at her.

"She wouldn't need to hide the fact that her prints are on the bottle. Someone else must have had it after she bought it." She turned back to the powder covered bottle on the table.

"Here you are!" Brass walked through the door and into the room. He looked at Grissom. "I paged you!"

Grissom frowned and looked down at his pager. Indeed, three new pages were waiting for him. "Oh." He unclipped the device and read through each page. "I must have not heard it somehow." _'Probably enjoying the fact too much that you could watch Sara unabashedly for once.'_

"Yeah, whatever." Brass took a chair and sat down. "I checked Jenkins. He's been the manager for the last five years. Newman was directly under him. No apparent connection between these two, except for work."

"Hmm." Sara pursed her mouth. "What about family?"

"Jenkins has one brother. They don't see each other very often, though. The brother is in some sort of medical institution back east. He's got some disorder, err…." He pulled out his notebook and flipped through it.

"NMS?" Grissom supplied.

"Yeah." Brass looked up, eyebrows rising.

"That's what Newman was suffering from." He looked at Sara. "And that's our connection."

She smiled. "He would have known what Newman needed the supplements for, and just how to mirror the symptoms. Janice is his secretary, too. It wouldn't be suspicious if he were in her office now and then."

Grissom smiled back. "I say we call the judge?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

With the link between suspect and victim established, and with the added attempt at covering up the access to the med files, Grissom had been able to aquire a "no knock" warrant in record time. They could serve the warrant and search the house without Jenkins having to be present. It was fortunate that Archie had called them in during the day, since Jenkins was still at work, giving them some time to do the search.

Grissom and Sara were standing outside Jenkins's house while two police officers went about securing the inside.

"All clear." The older of the two officers stepped outside onto the front porch. "I'll post Shawn out here, so you can go about doing your thing inside."

"Thank you." Grissom grabbed his field kit and led the way inside. He snapped on a pair of gloves and took in the spacious living room. It was decorated tastefully without being too in your face and obvious of the owner's apparent wealth. A large leather couch and flatscreen tv dominated the right side of the room. Some paintings decorated the walls. Other than that it was sparsely furnished, but still quite stylish.

"Nice," Sara commented, while taking in her surroundings. She let her gaze roam over the room, trying to notice as many details as possible. "I'll take the living room and office if you don't mind."

Grissom nodded, and picked up his field kit. Leaving Sara to work the living room, he checked the kitchen. It was clean. Incredibly clean. Not even dishes were left outside to dry, all had been stored in the various cabinets Grissom was looking through. The fridge didn't prove to be useful, nor the various holding places for cans, cleaners, and various other household items. The last place to check was a small storage space under the sink.

"Sara!"

She walked into the kitchen and crouched down next to him. "Found something?"

Grissom took one of the three bottles he had been looking at, and lifted it. "Anti-freeze. Three bottles. It must get cold in his garage at night."

"Yeah, seems a bit excessive for Las Vegas." She smiled slyly.

Reaching behind him to get an evidence bag out of his field kit, Grissom heard a soft rustle on his right, and found Sara already holding one open for him.

"Yes, it does. Thank you." He got up after sealing the three bags and put them away. "You found anything?"

Sara turned and picked up a bottle. "Well, just some food supplements." She grinned again.

"Same brand."

"He is good." She tilted the bottle a bit, so Grissom could see the cap. "This was bought the same day as the one we found at Janice Cole's office. He just exchanged the bottles."

Grissom nodded. "Good. However, all we have is pretty much circumstantial. We lack a motive. What?" He looked at Sara's widening grin.

"I think you'll really like the other thing I've found."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sara was sitting in Grissom's office, waiting for him to come back with the results from tox. If the anti-freeze from Jenkins matched the one used to poison Newman, the case would be over very soon. She sighed. _'Now or never, Sara. You've made the decision.' _It had just gotten harder and harder during the current case. Especially with Grissom being nice all of a sudden. _'And then the invitation to breakfast…'_ She had to do it now, or her strength would be waning even further. No need to put it off any longer. She had always been one for acting on a decision she made. And contrary to a certain someone, she did make decisions. _'I've put off the inevitable long enough. Don't fool yourself, it'll be back to the usual ignoring and awkwardness after Jenkins has been put away. He gives me just enough to get my hope up, and then crushes it just as quickly.'_

Sara heard the footsteps in the hallway, and just knew it was Grissom. He walked into the office, and went straight for his chair.

"Tox is working on it. They should be done right when Brass brings in Jenkins. I don't think he can talk his way out of this." He placed the files on his desk and rubbed his eyes, shoulders slightly drooping.

"Good." Sara thought for a moment before getting up and quietly closing the door. She looked at Grissom, as he lifted his gaze at the small sound the closing door made. She felt a bit guilty seeing his tired appearance, and tried to convince herself that she wasn't taking advantage of it.

"Sara?"

She shifted her gaze to his questioning blue eyes, but quickly looked away again. "Grissom. I…" She sighed, and pulled out the folded sheet of paper. "This is my resignation."

When Grissom didn't react in any way to her announcement, not even blinking, she stepped forward and placed it gently on his desk. "I…, my decision stands. No use for you to talk me out of it."

He continued sitting behind his desk, not moving, only his eyes following her every step, slight bewilderment readable in them. But he didn't say anything. _'Oh yeah, this figures. Don't fall all over yourself to actually try and talk me out of it.'_ Sara thought resignated. Now, stronger than ever before, was she convinced that her decision had been the right one.

"Yeah, well, please sign it. I'll be in the breakroom, wating for Brass to bring in the suspect." She turned to leave.

"Sara." His voice was barely above a whisper.

She couldn't turn around to face him – if it was for herself or for him, she didn't know. Sara pulled the door open. "Don't, Grissom. Just… don't."

With that she left, and closed the door behind her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom didn't move for several minutes. Only to him it seemed like an eternity. The white sheet of paper on his desk screamed at him. He couldn't bring himself to pick it up, to read it, to confirm that what Sara had said was not just some sort of cruel joke. He had finally gotten himself convinced that the time for denial and procrastination was over. He had made a move. And he had meant it.

Maybe he should have offered her more than just a breakfast and a talk. But even that had taken a lot from him.

His eyes stilled on the bright patch of white on his desk again. He had his answer, manifested in a simple, pre-printed form to be filled out. All it needed was his signature to confirm his worst fear. His shoulders slumped as he closed his eyes, feeling a painful burning behind his eyelids and in his chest. _'Too late.'_

* * *

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimers**: See chapter 1  
  
**A/N**: This is it, last chapter. Thanks for reading!

And HUGE thanks goes out to ScienceGeek for being a great beta! I wouldn't have been able to do it without you – Thanks! Everything good comes from her. Everything bad – blame it on me ;) 

* * *

  
Chapter 9  
  
Jenkins sat quietly in his chair, calmly looking at the two investigators who had sat down in front of him.

Grissom looked him carefully over. Brass had found the CSI Supervisor sitting in his office, eyes still closed, Sara's resignation in a drawer. After asking Brass to get Sara, he had watched Jenkins through the two-way mirror for a while, trying to assess him. Sara had walked up to him wordlessly, and they had entered the room behind Brass. The time had come to finish this.

"Mr. Jenkins, I'm Gil Grissom." He nodded his head to the left. "This is Sara Sidle. We have some questions for you."

"Yes. Detective Brass there already mentioned that. How can I help you?"

Sara regarded Grissom, but as he didn't make a move to start, she pulled out the three bottles of anti-freeze. "Care to explain this?"

Jenkins narrowed his eyes. "You got these from my house? I was never served with a warrant."

"There was no need to. We had enough evidence to allow us to search your house with the warrant we had without you having to be present."

"Evidence? Am I a suspect now?"

Brass stepped up behind Sara. "You have the right for a lawyer if you demand one."

Jenkins shook his head, not the least bit ruffled. "I don't need a lawyer. You can't honestly believe I had anything to do with what happened to Newman."

"Oh, but we do." Brass said mirthlessly.

"Maybe you could explain these?" Sara said, motioning towards the anti-freeze again.

"Of course." He looked at her calmly. "I have a brother in Boston, whom I visit from time to time."

"You mean to tell us, you go to Boston by car?"  
  
"I hate flying." He shrugged. "It gets cold in the winter, as you undoubtedly know, so I like to be prepared."  
  
"These are rather new." Sara pointed to the expiration date. "Bought this spring. Why would you buy anti-freeze in spring?"  
  
"As I said, I like to be prepared for any evantuality."  
  
_'Oh, he's smooth,'_ Sara thought. She saw Grissom lean forward slowly.  
  
"We also found a bottle of food supplements in your house."  
  
"So?"  
  
"You take any supplements?"  
  
Jenkins frowned. "No, I don't."  
  
"It's coincidence then that these are the same kind as Newman used?"  
  
"Yes. They're for my brother."  
  
Grissom nodded. "The one from Boston. The one who suffers from NMS."  
  
Jenkins actually looked surpised at that. "How did you know?"  
  
"That doesn't matter. What matters is, that Thomas Newman also suffered from NMS. You knew what supplements he was taking from Janice Cole, your secretary. She got them for him. However, you were the only one who knew Newman suffered from NMS because of that."  
  
"So?" Jenkins said arrogantly. "That doesn't mean I killed him." He looked at Sara then at Brass. "I'm afraid I don't like where this is going. Since you have nothing else, I think this is over. What motive would I have for killing Newman?" He moved to get up.  
  
"Mr. Jenkins." Grissom got his attention again, waiting a beat.  
  
Without hesitation, Sara opened the folder she was holding and pulled out a piece of paper. It looked like it had been discarded and smoothed out again recently. She put the paper on the table in front of Grissom, and he lightly put his left hand on top of it. They worked so well with each other, communicating with gestures or looks; sometimes only due to some sort of instictive knowledge of what the other was thinking. Why couldn't he communicate with her like this outside of work. That was always a painful and uneasy thing to deal with, more so with her than with his other co-workers. And why was he so utterly terrified of it?

He felt Sara pull her hand away, and nodded at her slightly. Almost as if acknowledging all the times they had done this effortlessly before, and not just this particular instant. _'And this last instant.'_  
  
Grissom quickly banished any personal thoughts from his mind, and shifted his full focus on Steve Jenkins again. He had gotten good at just switching over into work mode over the years – but at a cost to himself, and to the others. At times he wondered, if the cost had been too high. He gently turned the sheet of paper 180 degrees, and pushed it towards Jenkins.  
  
"I think this answers your question." He lifted his hand from the crinkled paper, his intense blue eyes never leaving Jenkins's face.  
  
Jenkins scanned the printed letter quickly, and blanched visibly.  
  
"We found this in your office. Forgot to take the trash out?" Sara regarded him cooly. "He was to take your position, wasn't he?"

Jenkins cleared his throat, before shaking his head slightly. He seemed resigned. "Headquarters thought he would be good at the job," he snorted derisively. "They only look at the numbers, not the people." His eyes went to the letter in front of him again. "Newman was an asshole. No one knew what to make of him. He was eccentric, a loner who lacked people skills. He would have been a bad manager."

Sara felt more than saw Grissom stiffen beside her. "Oh so you did the world a service by killing him. It wasn't for personal reasons," she said sarcastically.  
  
Jenkins looked at her calmly, his confidence and slick demeanor back in place. "I believe now would be a good time to claim my right to a lawyer."

Grissom got up and went to the door quietly. "I would believe so." He opened the door and motioned the young policeman outside to step into the room. "Stay with the suspect."  
  
Sara watched him walk towards his office before she turned towards the locker room. Opening her locker, she sat down on the bench, exhaling slowly, and looked up at the sheet of paper in it. She had hoped to feel relieved when this moment came. _'Far from it.'_

__

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_'Incredible how many useless things one acquires over the course of a bit more than four years.'_ Sara lugged another box into her living room. The apartment was almost bare by now. Suitcases and boxes littered the floor. She had started to pack after getting home from the lab, and hadn't stopped all night. Now as the first glimmer of dawn was visible through the window, she decided to indulge in the luxury of a break.  
  
Picking up up the mug from the coffee table, Sara gently blew the steam over the rim, while her eyes roamed over the empty shelves and bare walls. She took a sip and sat down on the couch, leaning back into the soft cushions. The movers would be coming around noon, they would transport the furniture and most of her belongings to a storage unit until she would need it again. A week or two at her parents' would do her a world of good. And get her away from here.  
  
Her gaze stopped at the single unpacked object in the room. The card was still attached to it, even if the writing had been smudged a bit from the time she left her window open the night a thunder storm hit the city. The ink had faded from being exposed to the sun for too long. Time had that effect on things. They were either extinguished in a matter of seconds, or slowly blurred into nonexistence over the course of years. The once strong and clear ink had turned into something pale and almost indistinguishable. But it was still there.   
  
Sara got up and gently fingered a leaf. It was amazing how long ago it seemed to her. She thought she had gotten some sort of answer at that time. But it had turned out to be just as elusive as the man from which it had come.  
  
She sighed and put the cup down.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grissom sat on his couch, rubbing his temples wearily. It wasn't a headache that was troubling him, or that kept him from sleep despite his bonecrushing weariness. He rubbed his temples hard, as if willing the pain to go away by inflicting a different kind of pain. A soft knock penetrated his daze, and he got up to open the door without thinking. Only as he laid his eyes on her, did everything register.  
  
"Sara?"  
  
She brushed past him and barged into the living room. _'Nothing to lose now.'_  
  
"Thank you for signing the resignation." She sat down on the couch where he had been sitting only moments before.  
  
Grissom looked at her for a while, for once not trying to hide the pain he felt. Not anymore. Softly closing the door behind him, he turned his translucent eyes to her, before shifting his gaze to the floor. "You're welcome." It was barely above a whisper. Total defeat.  
  
"What are you afraid of, Grissom?"  
  
"You." His voice sounded hoarse. There was no more hesitation. No more hiding behind other people's quotes or clever double entendres.  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Sara shook her head slightly. "No."  
  
"What?" His blue eyes finally settled on her face.  
  
"You're not afraid of me. You're afraid of change. So you don't think about change, you push it away. And you push me away." She locked eyes with him. "Maybe you're afraid of being rejected. But I can't reject you. You're too fast for me."  
  
"Sara." He took a small step towards her.  
  
"No. Grissom. Don't say anything. Nothing you say can change anything. I made my decision. Please accept it. Please accept me." She got up and went to the door. It hurt her to see him like this, but she had needed to come here, as much for herself as for him. As she turned the knob, she looked at his forlorn figure. "Words don't change anything. Not anymore. But maybe you will." He looked up at her words. "I'll be there, Gil."  
  
With that she stepped outside into the early morning sun and closed the door behind her.  
  
He didn't see the tears, and didn't hear her sobs as she drove out of the city.  
  
She didn't see his tears, or his retreating even more into himself for the week that followed. She didn't see how he sat in his living room night after night; alone, thinking things over. She didn't see him calling Catherine, taking a few days vacation, and then checking in with airlines for flights to California. He knew her thinking well enough to know that she would take some time to pull herself together at her parents, the only support she felt she had. Especially since he hadn't been there for her for a long time, as he now realized. Grissom packed a few clothes, picked up his keys, and went outside. He felt a tingling and warming sensation as he finally made his decision. No more denial. No more waiting and wishing for the one thing he had denied himself for too long. No more cold lonely nights.

_'I'll be there, Gil.'_ So would he. He only hoped he wouldn't be too late

He smiled.

  
  
THE END


End file.
